Right under their nose

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If you are Pat Haden, you must be intrigued by the availability of Ben Howland.

Who else has three Final Four appearances in the past nine tournaments? Nobody but Tom Izzo, Roy Williams and the retired Jim Calhoun.

Howland also has won four more NCAA Tournament games in his 10 regular seasons than any other Pac-12 team

Plus, four Pac-10 or 12 regular-season titles in the past eight years. USC has not won even one such title in the past 28 seasons.

Better yet, USC wouldn't have to pay Howland's moving expenses. He wouldn't have to get up to speed on his opponents, especially the one on the Westside. And he would already know USC's players, probably well enough to know he should replace them.

Didn't Haden say something about wanting a “proven winner?” This makes so much more sense than re-hiring Tim Floyd and all his baggage, or taking a risk on someone unfamiliar with the territory.

It also makes more sense than firing Howland, which UCLA did Sunday evening.

There have been eight UCLA coaches since John Wooden said goodbye in 1975 and there is little question that Howland was the most successful. He did not win an NCAA championship as Jim Harrick did in 1995, but he was the only one to go to more than one Final Four.

But Athletic Director Dan Guerrero paused eloquently before bringing Howland back last spring, in the wake of a Sports Illustrated inquest that was so damaging that Howland brought in the nation's top recruiting class to Westwood last fall.

Did UCLA underachieve? Maybe. But if teams are overrated, maybe it's the fault of the raters.

There is no basketball reference book as painstaking as the Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Before the season, it ranked Kentucky No. 2, North Carolina State No. 4, North Carolina No. 9, Gonzaga No. 20, Miami No. 24, Texas No. 25, and VCU, Marquette and Georgetown nowhere.

Guerrero, to his credit, downplayed the effects of poor New Pauley crowds and the old chorus about Howland's deliberate style of play. For one thing, UCLA ran this year. For another, higher prices and irregular, made-for-TV starting times kept folks away. Besides, that's the responsibility of marketing people.

Guerrero was more worried about the short-term future, correctly observing that Jordan Adams' injury wouldn't have been so damaging if so many Bruins hadn't transferred.

How did it go wrong? When Howland came, he built a tough, responsible program on players who were there for at least three years. Heavy lifters like Luc Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya were invaluable.

Then he got into position to sign NBA-ready players and, along the way, brought in a sleeper named Russell Westbrook. When Westbrook skyrocketed into lottery status, UCLA suddenly lost him, Mbah a Moute, Jrue Holliday and Darren Collison within a two-year period.

Howland had to scramble for talent and also suffered coaching staff turnover. Some juvenile players slipped through the cracks, and Howland somehow forgot about discipline. Joshua Smith, at 350 pounds-plus, never would have smelled the basketball court if he had been playing for Rick Pitino or Billy Donovan.

Reeves Nelson, who was UCLA's best player for at least one year, had to play the clown on a losing bench before Howland kicked him off. He missed a plane to Maui — and who does that? — and only missed one half, against Chaminade.

Were Howland more of a “people person,” he still might not have survived five years without a Final 16. Since he wasn't, he had no chance.

At the 2012 Pac-12 Tournament at Staples Center, all teams stayed at the L.A. Live hotels and walked to the arena. Howland, however, still wanted a team bus. When Smith, showing a rare burst of energy, walked to Staples, he got to the locker room several minutes before the Bruins got through their maze of U-turns. It didn't matter. Since Smith wasn't on the bus, he was benched for the first half.

Howland's defenders will counter that the Bruins wanted more out of him than they were willing to invest. UCLA has no team plane (as Colorado does) or practice facility.

Money apparently isn't the problem, not with the Pac-12 network and the ESPN deal. Howland gets $3.5 million for getting fired.

Where does Guerrero go next? He talked of a coach who cared about academics and specialized in fun, winning basketball. That describes a lot of guys, including VCU coach Shaka Smart who, along with Butler's Brad Stevens and Gonzaga's Mark Few, is conveniently idle.

Howland will coach somewhere in 2013-14 if he wants to. If the Trojans want a home run, they'll bring him downtown.

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